The Fieldtrip
by ouxes
Summary: Okay so I noticed some romantic tension between Zuko and Suki in The Promise so decided I'd write a little backstory! Set after Azula captures the Kyoshi Warriors/DoBS/Western Air Temple; Suki and Zuko go on a little fieldtrip of their own…
1. Prologue

Suki looked up as a beam of firelight streamed across the grimy floor – blinding relief from the dank, windowless cell. A figure entered and closed the door behind him. She got to her feet, her eyes straining in the dark to identify the intruder.

'What do you want?' she asked coldly, her voice ringing off the stone walls.

'I have some information that might be of use to you.'

_That voice_.

'Zuko,' she spat, the most vicious loathing erupting into her being. 'Get out of here! There is _nothing_ you have to say that I want to hear.'

'You're wrong.' The words whipped out low and harsh. 'You want to hear this.'

He opened his fingers and a flickering flame furled into being, illuminating his scarred and hateful face. She glared at him through the bars as he approached.

'The Avatar is alive,' he murmured, and Suki gasped.

'How do you know?'

'Katara told me, but she didn't really know what she was saying when she did.' He frowned. 'She showed me that she had healing water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. I know she saved the Avatar's life. I know he's still out there.'

'And why are you telling me this? You must have an ulterior motive other that trying to make me _feel_ better.' Her eyes looked daggers at him.

'I'm formulating a plan,' he said, even quieter than before. 'A plan that you are involved in. Listen to me. The Avatar and his comrades are planning an invasion of the Fire Nation during a solar eclipse.'

'Why a solar eclipse?'

Zuko closed his eyes tightly, conflict knitting his brow until he resolved himself and looked up again.

'Firebenders lose their bending abilities,' he said.

Suki's eyes widened, then narrowed.

'You still haven't explained why –'

The sound of footsteps cut her short and they both glanced towards the door, the flame in Zuko's hand immediately snuffed. The glow of firelight was growing brighter out in the corridor. They both waited, nerves twanged with the intensity of suspense, as a guard outside walked past the door.

As soon as the guard's torchlight had dimmed to shadow, Zuko swept on his hood and disappeared, ignoring Suki's whisper of '_Wait!_' and closed the door silently behind him.

The door banged open and Suki leapt to her feet as Zuko strode across the little room to her cell.

'I've decided to join the Avatar and help him destroy my father,' said Zuko, his face set and his tone defiant. Then, something in his eyes seemed to waver slightly. 'Will you come with me?'

Suki looked into his eyes, then dropped her gaze to the floor and turned her body away from him.

'Please!' Zuko implored fiercely, lunging forward to grip the bars of her cell in desperation. She had to understand. 'This isn't some sort of trick or plot – I've changed, you _have_ to believe me!'

But Suki was barely listening. She knew he had changed, she could see it in his face and hear it in his voice; she had been waiting for him to ask for her help since the day he had told her about the invasion plan. Sitting in the dark cell, her mind had run circles around the room, forming patterns that gradually turned into resolutions. She sighed. If there ever was a time to speak out, this was it.

'I've never told anyone this before,' said Suki quietly, still facing the wall. 'But my father was a firebender.'

'What?' Zuko's eyes widened.

'He lived in a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom, but when he met my mother he left to live on Kyoshi Island to be with her. He hid his bending, pretending to be a normal Earth Kingdom civilian, and no one but my mother knew what he truly was. When they had me, I just happened to be lucky enough to be a normal non-bender like my mother; my younger brother, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He was a firebender, and a good one, too,' she added, with a shaky laugh. Suki turned to lean her back against the wall of her cell, her head tilted back and her eyes gazing blankly away into a distant memory. 'My brother and I used to go out and train together – he would practice his bending and I would practice the art of the Kyoshi Warriors; but, when the Fire Nation came through our town, they found us sparring and – and they said that if my brother was good enough to learn bending forms on his own then he was good enough to fight in the war, and they took him away. I never saw him again.'

Zuko watched the desert of emotion in Suki's face with rapture. She refused the lump in her throat; she had divulged enough tears to this grief.

'But my brother was my best friend, and my father is a great man.' She looked over at Zuko with glittering eyes, full of the most terrible sadness. 'What I'm trying to say is, I know that anyone from the Fire Nation is capable of great evil as well as great good, the same as everybody else. I have the blood of the Fire Nation in my veins just as much as I do Earth Kingdom, and I will never deny that part of me.' She suddenly gave Zuko a blazing look and threw herself forward, reaching her arms through the bars to hug him. 'I'm glad you have seen the better way,' she said, stepping back to smile. 'I will help you find the Avatar, and I will help you defeat your father to the very end.'

Zuko's expression shifted from shock to disbelieving gratitude, and he stood back to bow to her.

'Thank you,' he said, and he extracted a silver key from the pocket of his robes. 'I took this from the guard outside, but we should try to hurry.' The lock clicked and the door swung open. 'Someone's going to notice sooner or later.'

'Looks like sooner,' said Suki sharply, her eyes on the hallway outside the door.

People with torches were coming closer; a shout told them all they needed to know. Both Suki and Zuko darted forward to stand pressed against the walls either side of the open door.

'Hey, the key's been stolen!' they heard a man call. 'Someone's trying to break in!'

Running footsteps – a moustached man came flying into the cell room and stopped in his tracks when he saw the empty cell with its door wide open. He only had time to gasp before Suki lunged forward, kicking him hard in the back so he flew into the bars, whacked his head with a dull _clunk_ and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

'Let's go,' said Zuko, and the pair of them swept from the room and out down the corridor.

They rounded the corner and a guardsman looked up from his cup of tea, his mouth agape as Zuko punched fireballs at him.

'_Oof!_'

The man was thrown back into the teatable beside him with a crash. He did not get up again as they sprinted past.

'I have to find my father,' Zuko said, as they paused by the entrance to the cellar. 'The eclipse will be starting any minute now and I have to tell him what I'm going to do.'

'What about your uncle?' asked Suki breathlessly.

'He's already gone.' Something in his tone told Suki not to inquire further.

More shouts met their ears and the light of fires began to spread across the walls. Zuko turned and raised his hands to attack, but Suki gripped his shoulder.

'Go!' she said firmly. 'I can handle these guys, you have to face your father.'

He looked at the determination in her face for a moment before nodding once and disappearing through the cellar door.

Suki exhaled, readying herself for a fight. Only a few minutes and their bending would be gone and they would be helpless. This was going to be too easy.

As soon as the first one rounded the corner, Suki sprinted forward, leaping over his jet of flame to spring off the wall and kick him in the chest, sending him flying back into his two other comrades. They fell back with a resounding _crash_ into a stack of crates. One man managed to jump to his feet. He whirled his hands dramatically around his head, twisting his arms to throw them forward in a display of firebending blitzkrieg when –

_Phut_.

A small spark jutted a centimetre from his palm and turned into a thin stream of coiling smoke. Suki smirked. The guard's eyes widened.

In a flash she was in front of him, her foot speeding through the air to collide with the side of his head. She whirled around before he had time to fall to duck under the other man's roundhouse, instead sweeping her leg across the floor to trip him up.

'_Whoaa!_' he yelled, before coming crashing down in a heap on top of his other comrade.

Suki looked up, her hands raised to the last guard. The colour drained out of his face and he held up his palms in surrender before turning and sprinting away down the corridor to safety, shrieking in fear like a wounded pig.

She grinned with triumph before slipping through the cellar door and out the other side into the light of day.

She lingered for only a moment to savour the fresh air and the openness of the space in front of her. Suki looked up, shielding her eyes, to see that the eclipse was fully in motion.

She knew what she had to do. Zuko was probably inside the palace by now, facing the Fire Lord and declaring his betrayal; but, once Aang and the others had left on Appa, they needed to have a way to follow…

Then, something caught her eye. Her gaze snapped up and she gasped in horror to see an entire fleet of airships rising into the sky to move forward on the offensive. They were heading towards the beach: where Aang and Sokka and the others surely were.

Suki threw herself forward and sprinted as fast as she could up and over the hill. Stretched before her was a little airfield in which three balloons were still docked and ready for departure. This was their ticket out of here.

She darted forward, slipping around the wall of the holding warehouse, to approach the closest war balloon. A man was inside already. He was attempting to bend fire into the grate but his bending wasn't working – the eclipse was still in progress but she knew it wouldn't be for long: it was now or never. Suki leapt into the hull and didn't hesitate to punch the look of sudden terror off the man's face. He was thrown over the side and onto the ground, completely unconscious.

_Get to the palace exit – Zuko will be coming out any second now and it's time for us to leave_.

Suki sprinted back towards the palace but gasped sharply as she found herself facing ten soldiers, all with hard expressions and offensive stances. She raised her hands, her eyes blazing fierce and determined, but as she whirled around looking at the position of each of her opponents, her expression faltered. There were too many of them – and the rays of the sun had peaked out from behind the moon; its light glittered off their helmets, glaring in her eyes. All soldiers had their hands poised and ready to strike. She was trapped.

'_Suki!_'

She looked up to see Zuko, horror written all over his face, looking down from ridge at where she was cornered. He made to run down but –

'Zuko, you have to go!' she called desperately. 'The others are probably leaving right now and you _have_ to follow them! Take the war balloon over the hill!'

'I can't leave you –'

'Yes, you can!' she yelled. 'I'll be fine – I'll just be going back to where I came from.'

'Oh, no you won't, missy,' snarled an old firebender guard, stepping forward from the ring surrounding her. 'You've proven you're too sneaky to be kept here; you're going to the Boiling Rock.'

'It's all the same,' Suki said sharply. She looked up at Zuko with pleading eyes. 'Please, you _have_ to go, you're wasting time! We'll meet again soon. Agh!' she shrieked as hot hands grabbed her by the forearm, pulling her back into steely handcuffs.

Zuko's face was contorted with indecision: he knew she was right, but he couldn't just leave her to be taken to the Boiling Rock – the _Boiling Rock_, of all places. He stood and watched them drag her away, his entire being aching with regret, before turning back and sprinting down the hill to the war balloon. If she was going to be imprisoned for him, the least he could do was make sure it was not in vain.


	2. Chapter 1

Suki stepped lightly on her toes, manoeuvring every step with perfect precision between the mats of her sleeping comrades, careful not to make a single sound. Once she had safely slipped around a snoring Momo and curled-up Appa, she allowed herself a deep breath.

The warmth of the night was relieved by a cool breeze that skirted across the crumbling tiles of the Western Air Temple, billowing up from the deep valley below the inverted buildings. A strange feeling of loneliness had been welling up inside Suki's mind, stopping her from sleeping and making her feel restless. It didn't make any sense to her: she had just escaped the total solitude and isolation of prison life to now live in freedom with her old friends and boyfriend; and yet now, she felt more lonely than ever.

Ever since her conversation with Zuko on the day of the eclipse, when she had divulged the secret of her true heritage, a wall seemed to separate her from Sokka and the others. The secret weighed in her heart like a stone. None of them knew – she wondered what they would think if they did know. And something else had been dogging her thoughts along with this secret: she had been thinking of her brother, Jai. Aang and Sokka had gone on little field trips with Zuko… Was is wrong of her to ask for his help in finding Jai?

But then there was Zuko. In and of himself, Zuko had been flitting in and out of her daydreams, his face always digging up feelings that frightened her. For so long he had been an enemy – the vile enemy who had burned her village and tried to kill her friends – and yet she had been the first to trust him and she had somehow known from the very beginning that she was right to do so. He had revealed his true self to her in the palace prison. He was the one who had given her hope, _he _was the one who had saved her from the Boiling Rock, _he_ was the one who held all her deepest secrets. She couldn't deny the connection that had forged between them; they had been through so many things together and knew so much more about one another than anyone else in the group. But this feeling? She recalled that emotion that had flooded through her when she had first seen his face at the Boiling Rock: relief, of course, but there was something more… something she was reluctant to analyse any closer.

Suki moved around the fountain, the tips of her fingers trailing absently through the cool water, before she sat down at the edge of the temple. She leaned against a broken stone pillar and allowed her legs to dangle down to the cloudy abyss below.

_Jai_. Her gaze drifted to the night sky where she watched her memories shape the stars: Jai's face, still chubby with baby fat and dotted by a pair of dimples, laughing with her in the bay of Kyoshi Island; the awe in his face as he watched her perfect the Tessenjutsu forms; his brow, furrowed with concentration, his tongue between his teeth as he dodged her fans and punched little balls of fire at her… all the adventures they used to go on, pretending they were in a great battle, leaping, jumping, sparring and laughing…always laughing…

'Something on your mind?'

Suki gasped and whirled around to see Zuko a few feet behind her, leaning against the fountain with his arms crossed. She turned back sullenly to face the open cliff and he came to sit beside her.

'You've been distant,' he noted. 'Is there something you need to talk about?'

'Not talk about…' Suki hesitated. 'There's something I need to do, and I've been thinking that I might need your help.'

She looked over at his face in the dark. His expression was slightly curious but there was reservation underneath.

'You helped Aang figure out firebending, you helped Sokka rescue his dad,' she listed. 'I'm sure Katara or Toph will ask you for something sooner or later… But it's time for me to do something I should have done a long time ago. I have to find my brother.'

The statement seemed to ring out through the valley, carried on the breeze that rippled Suki's robes across her front.

'Suki,' Zuko said, his voice uncharacteristically cautious. 'I don't know how to say this but, have you considered the possibility that maybe your brother –'

'I've considered all the possibilities,' she said coldly. 'But I can't just leave it alone. Jai is my little brother. I should have been there to protect him that day and – I wasn't.'

'You were ten-years-old. You can't beat yourself up for not protecting him from a bunch of Fire Nation raiders. Consider yourself lucky that you didn't try, it could have turned out all the worse for both of you.'

'But I'm not ten-years-old anymore,' she said angrily. 'I'm the leader of an elite team of warriors and have spent the past seven years of my life mastering our fighting technique. I am more than ready to take back what's mine.'

Zuko bit back an exasperated sigh. She sounded just like Katara – too headstrong for her own good; but somehow, coming from Suki, it was strangely admirable. Simultaneously, an inexplicable feeling of _envy_ burned in Zuko's hands, envy that Suki had the leads to uncover the secret of her missing brother, and he was intensely jealous of her. But, this resentment was softened by the deepest sympathy. All these responses came clashing, unprecedented, into Zuko's mind as he sat listening to Suki's speech. He knew how she felt and he was determined to help her.

'Do you know who took him?' he asked. 'Do you remember anything about their uniforms or what their head ship looked like?'

'They were a navy division under General Huo Meng. I will never forget his name, or his face. He was the one who found us sparring by the bay. I didn't realise it at the time but they must have come to speak with our father for they didn't stay and Kyoshi Island wasn't bothered by the Fire Nation again – or at least until _you_ came.'

She finished the sentence in a pointed mutter.

'Oh, right.' Zuko rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. 'Well, I know Huo Meng, he was the leader of the Portsea Fleet in the south. I've actually met him a few times; he was a southern adviser to my father.'

'You're speaking in the past tense,' Suki pointed out, narrowing her eyes slightly.

'He lives in the Fire Nation Capital now.'

Suki gasped.

'Oh, no! Is there any chance of finding him?'

'Yes,' said Zuko firmly. 'He was injured in a raid a year ago and now works purely as an advisor to the entire south division of the Fire Nation fleets. We can find him but – it will be very dangerous for both of us. You, a wanted fugitive, escapee from the Palace Prison _and _the Boiling Rock –'

'And you, the Fire Nation Prince and betrayer of his own father and country,' Suki finished wryly. 'The risk makes it sound all the more interesting, doesn't it?'

'This is not a joke,' Zuko reprimanded harshly. 'If we get caught, we're both done for.'

'I don't care,' said Suki dismissively. 'I can do this on my own if you don't want to risk it. Huo Meng is the only person that I know of who knows what happened to Jai; and now that I have this information, I feel like I have no choice but to go after him.'

'I didn't say you would have to go alone,' Zuko backtracked. 'You'll need help finding him in the first place. But we _have_ to stay hidden.'

'Zuko, you can't risk your safety and freedom for me,' Suki reprieved, though she was inherently touched by the gesture.

'I'm not going to. I just want to help you. I – know how important finding lost family members is.'

By his tone and the way he averted his gaze, Suki knew immediately that he was speaking from very personal experience. Her touch on his shoulder gave him the confidence to confess.

'When I was young, my mother sacrificed herself to save me,' he said tightly. 'At the invasion, my father told me that she might still be alive.'

'Do you have any idea where she could be?' Suki asked quickly.

'No. I have no idea.'

Suki, too, averted her gaze, clasping both her hands in her lap. She felt an overwhelming feeling of compassion towards Zuko as they sat there side-by-side, both sharing their deepest and most isolating secrets. She wanted to tell him, to convey this to him somehow, but the thought of confessing her affection made her blush silently in the dark.

'I wish there was some way I could help,' she said gently, 'seeing as you're helping me.'

'So do I. But there's nothing that can be done. For now, we should focus on finding Huo Meng, and finding your brother.'

'So you'll help me?' Suki couldn't keep the hope from her voice.

Zuko nodded once, his face set.

Suki threw her arms around his neck briefly before they broke apart and she leapt to her feet, retreating back to the camp before he could see the colour on her cheeks.


	3. Chapter 2

Anticipation tingled to the very tips of Suki's fingers. She felt as though she had never been more ready for anything in her entire life; but, this feeling was tainted by one of shame. As she tied a black band around her waist and pinned back her hair, she realised that she should have done this years ago. Grief spiralled up her core as she pictured Jai's hopeful face, full of certainty that his sister would come looking for him; but she never did. She had let him down. Why had she spent all these years training to master the art of Tessenjutsu? She told herself time and time again that she had been putting the needs of others above herself: defending Kyoshi Island, training younger members to carry on Avatar Kyoshi's tradition, assisting refugees into Ba Sing Se… But these excuses were feeble. If she were to be bluntly honest with herself, Suki had avoided this day for fear that her brother had been killed. Facing that possible reality to her was worse than not knowing at all. How selfish she had been! That wasn't selfless, that was the most selfish thing she could ever have done! It was her duty to find him.

Tears burned in her eyes as she bent down to tie the hem of her pants underneath her knees.

'Are you ready?' came Zuko's voice from the doorway.

'Yeah – yeah, I'm ready.'

She stood up to face him in the dark, trying to keep her voice steady and her face expressionless. Zuko noticed, of course Zuko noticed, but he spared her the confrontation and turned to walk away. Suki slung her rucksack over her shoulder and followed suit.

'Everything's ready,' Zuko murmured. 'I left a note saying we'd gone on a field trip – nothing more.'

'Good. And you're sure we won't be picked out? I mean, the war ship isn't exactly difficult to spot.'

'It's less conspicuous than Appa and completely unremarkable from the rest of the fleet; even if someone does notice, it's nothing out of the ordinary.'

They slipped silently past their sleeping friends. Suki's eyes lingered on Sokka's sleeping form. As opposed to a heartfelt emotional parting, she raised an eyebrow at his open mouth and the little pool of drool welling at the corner of his pillow. She wondered if she would see him again.

She followed Zuko down the natural vine-ladder, swinging until she was able to leap onto the temple below. She landed almost silently on the crumbling tiles but did not hesitate to move swiftly over to where the war ship was docked.

'You know how to fly this thing?' she asked sceptically, climbing the metal steps and helping Zuko to pull them up by their chains.

'Er – kind of,' he said airily. 'Come on, once we start it up we should move out quickly. We don't want to wake the others.'

Suki nodded resolutely and followed him up into the cockpit.

She leaned against the steel doorway, watching Zuko's progress over the vast and complex dashboard. He fiddled with dials with his right hand only – in his left he held a ball of flickering orange flames that threw slanted, dancing shadows across the walls. She knew better than to ask if he needed help: he didn't, and he if he did he would ask.

Suki tilted her head slightly to one side as she watched him. A slow, steady vibrating juddered through the floor as the engine came to life. His figure, clothed all in black, was one no more remarkable than any other man she knew, and yet the fact that he was here with her made her heart swell with gratitude.

'Suki, come here, I need another hand,' he said over his shoulder. 'I'll be the throttle – you steer.'

She obeyed silently, moving to stand beside him and take the wheel. The glass was completely black; even when she squinted she could hardly see a thing.

'Put that flame out, I need to see outside,' she said, her voice barely more than a whisper though they were alone. 'That's better – okay, give it a bit of throttle, just enough to get us off the temple and over the edge. We need to freefall just enough to get out into open air before going up.'

They felt the ship become slightly unsteady as it rose above the temple floor; it dipped and fell a few metres down into the valley below before Zuko pulled down the accelerator lever and Suki righted the ship to fly up and out of the valley itself. They were soon soaring through a cloudless, star-scattered sky, watching the great black scar that was the Western Air Temple canyon disappear behind them. Zuko pulled levers and shifted gears until they were cruising at a high enough altitude to remain on steady course.

'So it's smooth sailing to the Fire Nation now,' Suki sighed, unsure as to whether she should be reluctant or relieved.

Moonlight filtered in through the windows and their eyes soon adjusted to the dim silver light. Zuko dragged two hard wooden chairs over from the doorway, pushing one over to Suki and settling down in the other himself.

'What's the plan once we get there?' Suki asked, her eyes on the windows.

'Why didn't you go looking for your brother before?' said Zuko lowly, ignoring her question completely to voice what had obviously been on his mind.

Suki glanced at him, his scarred face thrown into light by the window, to observe a look of hard concern and, surprisingly, an awkward kind of sympathy. Zuko was in cool comfort when it came to action yet now his expression revealed a complete lack of emotional maturity. He was nervous.

'It's not like you to bring up a personal conversation,' she noted wryly, but then she sighed deeply and looked back out the window. 'I did, at first. I tried to follow them but my parents stopped me because my father was to leave for the Fire Nation in the next couple of days. He was gone for two months and returned empty-handed. After then, I trained as hard as I could to master Tessenjutsu so that I could go after them and rescue him, but, as more time passed, I became afraid that Jai was, you know, had been killed, and decided that I would rather not know at all than have that be true.' Suki bit her lip, fighting back the lump in her throat. 'It was a coward's act. I should have faced my fear and left a long time ago.'

'You can't beat yourself up about it,' Zuko refuted, unnervingly gentle. 'You were young –'

'Don't say I was too young,' she said angrily. 'Aang is thirteen and look at what he's having to face; look at what he's accomplished!'

'Aang's a special case,' Zuko challenged, his tone rough again. 'You can't compare yourself to the Avatar. When I was thirteen, I was completely lost within myself. I had just been banished by my father and was set on capturing the Avatar – for what? To regain my honour?' Zuko shook his head exasperatedly. 'I had no idea what that even meant back then; look at how wrong I turned out to be!'

'So what's your point?' Suki asked tartly, getting impatient with his futile consolations.

'People change as they grow older,' he said sharply, noticing her petulance. 'I'm sure you're very different now to how you were when you were thirteen-years-old. And now you have seven years of training, of preparation under your belt to make sure that this time you _will_ get him back. I've seen you and you're a great warrior. You even beat Ty Lee on the gondola at the Boiling Rock – not many can say they've done that. If your brother is still alive and we have to fight to get him back, I know you can win.'

Suki dropped her gaze to her feet. Somehow, his attempts at encouragement were only making her feel worse. He was reinforcing how long it had been and how many years she had wasted not looking for Jai. But she couldn't deny the fact that if she did have to fight for him or sneak him out of an enemy camp, she could do it.

'I know that as soon as this war is over, I'm going to look for my mother,' said Zuko, his voice fierce and full of resolution.

'What – what happened to her?' Suki ventured in a small voice.

'She was banished, like I was,' Zuko muttered. 'All this time I thought she had been murdered under my father's orders, but at the invasion he told me there was a possibility that she's still alive. I don't know if she is or where she would be but I have to find out.'

'I know how that feels.'

Silence fell between them but it was one of mutual comfort.

'Thank you for doing this,' Suki said quietly, looking up at him from under her lashes. 'I probably wouldn't have gotten the courage without you. I don't think anyone knows as much about me as you do.' She laughed dryly at the irony.

'I'm glad I can help,' he replied, though nothing in his tone revealed any form of reciprocated affection or gratitude.

To Zuko, this was a mission that had to be completed. He was doing his obligatory duty to a comrade by helping her fulfill an important destiny; and he was doing it because he was the only one who had the information on Huo Meng, not because he wanted her to be happy or because he wanted to feel better about himself. It had nothing to do with her, and everything in his sullen demeanour told her that. He didn't really care.

Suki began to wonder bitterly why she had even asked him to come along. He could have given her the information she needed at the Air Temple and she could have gone alone. And besides, he needed to continue teaching Aang firebending. Not only was she dragging Zuko into possibly the most dangerous situation he could be in right now, she was jeopardising the Avatar's requirement to master all four elements before the arrival of Sozin's Comet.

She sat there, staring at the window though not really seeing it, silently hating herself. She wished Zuko would say something encouraging, something – _anything_ – to make her believe that her assumptions were wrong. But he said nothing.

Suki suddenly got to her feet, pushing the chair roughly aside and striding the length of the room.

'Hey, where are you going?' Zuko called, looking around.

'I – I don't know!' she replied irately, stepping out of the doorway and looking up and down the pitch-dark corridor. 'You don't have to come with me, Zuko,' she said frostily, turning back to face him. She was letting her emotions get away with her, but she didn't care. 'I know that you feel obligated because you're the one with the information on Huo Meng, but just tell me where he is and you can go back. I'm sorry that I even asked you to come along on this stupid mission in the first place. You should go back and continue teaching Aang firebending and then – you can go on with your life! It was selfish of me to even expect you to be a part of this, I mean, I'm basically forcing you to put yourself into the most dangerous situation possible! This is my duty and it has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry.'

Zuko had listened to her spiel without interrupting, but he couldn't help the frown of sympathy that knitted his brow when she leaned her forehead against the doorway.

'I'm not here because I feel obligated,' he said evenly, getting to his feet to approach her. 'And you're not forcing me to do anything at all. If I didn't want to be a part of this I would have told you so. I'm here because I know how important this is to you and I want to help you see it through.' He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back so that she was facing him before holding both her upper arms to look into her shaded eyes. 'You had my back at the invasion. You got the war balloon for me to follow Aang and the others; you sacrificed your freedom so that I could fulfill my destiny. I owe it to you.' Then his gaze dropped a fraction. 'And I just want you to be happy.'

His sudden closeness caught Suki off-guard and her breath caught in her throat. Zuko dropped his hands and turned away from her to go back to his chair, obviously confused by his own actions.

After a moment, she followed his lead and sat slowly in her chair again, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin on her knees.

'You never told me – what _is_ the plan once we land?' Suki asked quietly.

'We dock on the coast and travel by foot into the capital,' he replied stiffly, his tone rather brusque considering their closeness of a few moments ago. 'Huo Meng lives with his wife close to the Palace in a complex of buildings that advisors and diplomats stay in while they serve my father. I'm not sure exactly which house he lives in, but they have nameplates so it shouldn't be difficult to find him once we're in.'

'So we sneak in at night, subdue his wife and demand the information of Jai's whereabouts,' Suki finished. But her face fell. 'What if he doesn't know?' she whispered, voicing a concern that had been dogging her since the plan was formulated back at the Air Temple.

'He probably won't,' Zuko admitted. 'But he'll have leads and we can work from there.'

'I – I don't want this to take too long,' she said, looking furtively over at him. 'What if it turns out he's been stationed, I don't know, at Ba Sing Se? Or the North Pole? We can't go there, there isn't enough time.'

'The important thing is for you to know that he's still alive.'

'I guess you're right. Then, after this is all over, I can go and find him; just like how you're going to go looking for your mother.'

Zuko nodded once but his demeanour had become slightly closed. It was clear by the way he held his shoulders that he did not want to discuss his mother any further.

'Sleep,' Suki suggested firmly. 'You look tired; I'll take over for a while. I brought a quilt in my rucksack.'

'You'll be okay?' Zuko asked, but then he grimaced at her sceptical expression. 'Of course you'll be okay,' he amended, and got up to rummage through Suki's rucksack for the quilt to lay down on the cast iron floor.

He felt irritated and he didn't know why. He wasn't irritated at Suki or the conversations they had been having; in fact, he surprised himself by feeling a little comforted in being able to talk to her about things that were personal to him. Since he had joined their group, Zuko had felt alienated not only by the group's attitudes towards him but by his own internal sufferings: his guilt regarding his uncle, his perpetual conflict between good and bad (whatever those concepts really were), and, of course, his mother's possible existence in some Earth Kingdom village or wherever she was. As he was being progressively accepted by Aang and the others, he was being relieved of the weight in his mind by Suki's compassion. So why was he feeling like this?

Zuko rolled over to face the wall, pressing his hot hand against the cool metal floor in an attempt to calm his temper. This didn't make any sense! He should be happy, _relieved_ even to be in the company of someone so understanding and sympathetic and kind rather than in the company of someone – someone stubborn, like _Katara_.

He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. _Sleep_, he commanded himself, though his thoughts spoke in Suki's voice, _sleep_.

Suki, meanwhile, was staring unseeingly out of the windshield windows. The cloudless sky really was beautiful: twinkling stars were scattered across the sky, their consistency hampered only by the glow of the almost-full moon. The black land rolled slowly by underneath their ship; somewhere below, a snaking river was illuminated in fragments as the moon reflected off its surface. Soon, the empty fields would be replaced by the sea.

She sighed and leaned forward to cross her arms and rest her head against the vast dashboard. Zuko was right: she couldn't beat herself up for not looking for Jai earlier. Being young as she was, she probably would have been captured or killed herself. At least now she knew she was going to get him back: failure was not an option. There was no point dwelling on past regrets.

But a new kind of fear had twisted itself into the pit of her stomach – one more raw and vulnerable. She wondered what would happen when they met again. What did he look like now? She hadn't seen him since he was nine-years-old; not for five years. He would be fourteen now and probably hardened by years at the frontline of a battle he should never have had to fight. Would he remember her as well as she remembered him? Would he be happy to see her, or would he feel angry and betrayed that it had taken her so long? Jai knew, of course, that their father was physically unable to go after him what with his poor back and ailing health; they both knew full well that if anyone was going to find him, it was Suki. What if he had changed?


	4. Chapter 3

'You should get some sleep,' came Zuko's quiet voice from behind her. 'I'll drive for a while.'

Suki only nodded resolutely and got to her feet, side-stepping Zuko to go over to the mat that was on the floor. She pulled it over closer to the edge of the room and curled up, pressing her face into the pillow that was still warm from when he had lain there, resting her hands in front of her face. Suki closed her eyes to meditate, working to clear her mind and make way for a rest that she needed.

Zuko could hear her breathing slow and become more rhythmic as she slipped into slumber. His face was set. He had to control himself and stay alert should anything happen.

'Why am I even bothering?' he sighed to himself, leaning back in the chair and putting his hands on his knees. 'We're flying on autopilot, nothing's going to happen for another few hours.'

And, as though it cost him the greatest, most painful effort, Zuko looked over his shoulder to rest his gaze upon Suki's sleeping form. He got to his feet and moved silently over to sit a few feet opposite her, cross-legged, his back erect and wary. Every particle in him was screaming at him to stop: he was doing the wrong thing. It was _Suki_, for crying out loud – Sokka's girlfriend. And he would probably cop a punch in the mouth if she woke up to see him looking at her like that; but there in the dark, lonely cabin, Zuko's face softened as he observed the irrevocable peace in hers.

This "field trip" was tangibly different to the others he had taken with Aang and Sokka. Suki was somehow closer and more familiar; she knew a lot about him – a dangerous amount – but he trusted her to keep it to herself just as she trusted him to keep her secrets safe. A bond had been forged between them and he surprised himself by appreciating it. Usually he hated having _bonds_ with people but, as this was something Suki had to do, he was more than happy to help her; in fact, he would rather it be him helping her than anyone else. He felt protective over her wellbeing somehow, and after all the help she had given him at the invasion, how she had trusted him and believed in him when no one else had… He owed it to her to see this through to the end. Something buried beneath his pride and his envy squirmed under its mask of denial – what was it? Affection? Dependency? Perhaps this mission was going to be more dangerous than he had anticipated.

Suki sighed slightly in her sleep, twitching her fingers and shifting her shoulders. Zuko leapt immediately to his feet, his eyes wide, waiting for her to wake up and see him watching her, but she only relaxed and continued breathing in a steady and rhythmic manner. Zuko exhaled and retreated to the front of the cockpit, getting increasingly angry with himself.

The ripples in the ocean below them were visible even from their altitude. The moon was sinking; dawn was approaching.

Two hours had passed when Zuko's head snapped up. Lights glittered on the horizon: the Fire Nation capital was directly ahead of them. He turned the steering wheel of the ship to take them right. If they flew directly to the capital, everyone would see their approach. Zuko knew the perfect place to land unseen…

'What's going on?' Suki asked, he voice husky from sleep, pushing herself up from the mat.

'We're approaching the capital so I turned the ship to go around,' Zuko replied shortly, his words clipped as though he might convey the inkling of his thoughts through his tone alone. 'We'll land in half an hour.'

'Good.'

Suki got to her knees and rolled up the mat, tucking it into her rucksack and taking out two bowls of rice she had brought from camp.

'Zuko, use your firebending to heat these up,' she said, handing him the bowls. 'I got them from the pot at camp. We'll need all the strength we can get.'

'Good thinking,' Zuko commended, taking the bowls as Suki took the wheel in his place.

The bottom of the bowls glowed hot as his hands heated the rice.

'Here.' He handed one to her. 'Be careful, it's hot.'

She rested the bowl on the dashboard as she ate, watching the city lights move further and further to the left as they rounded the main island. The archipelago revealed itself to be nothing more than black blobs dotted with little lights below.

'You know, I was thinking…'

'Yes?' Zuko inquired immediately, suddenly nervous by what had been on her mind.

'Well, your scar is the most noticeable feature of your face, right?' she said, and Zuko's shoulders relaxed.

'Oh, yeah, what about it?' he asked, attempting to keep the sullenness from his voice.

'If anyone sees you, they'll know right away who you are. But if you haven't got a scar, they'll never look twice.'

Zuko raised his eyebrow. 'What's your point?'

'I brought some Kyoshi Warrior makeup with me,' Suki said hurriedly, getting up to retrieve her rucksack from the floor. 'If we mix the red, white, yellow and black together, we might be able to make a convincing enough cover-up.'

'You want me to wear _makeup_?' he surmised in disgust. 'No way!'

'Be practical, Zuko,' she reprimanded. 'If your scar is covered, at least well enough not to notice in the dark, you will be so much more safe.'

Zuko crossed his arms moodily but she took his silence as a reluctant acceptance and took out the various pastes.

'Consider yourself lucky I'm even using these shades on you,' she said reproachfully, wiping out her rice bowl to mix the colours in. 'I need light,' she added, and Zuko obeyed mutely by conjuring a small flame. 'This makeup is an important aspect of the Kyoshi Warriors' attire. We wear it to intimidate opponents and to honour Avatar Kyoshi herself; it feels so strange knowing that I'm about to enter combat without wearing the traditional warrior dress…'

'Why do you wear those heavy clothes anyway?' Zuko asked petulantly. 'They seem so impractical.'

'They are important to the tradition and style of our martial art,' she said patiently. 'The gold insignia represents the honour of the warrior's heart, and the silk thread symbolises the brave blood that flows through our veins. Our philosophy differs greatly from that of firebending: firebending is all about power and brute strength, whereas we use our fans to use our opponents' strength against them.'

'Just like waterbending,' Zuko frowned thoughtfully.

'Exactly,' Suki nodded, smiling. 'It's a fine art and one that takes many years to master. Hm, how's this?'

She dipped her middle and index fingers into the makeup concoction and held it up against Zuko's cheek to compare, tilting her head slightly to the side to consider.

'A bit lighter, I think,' she concluded, looking down just in time to miss Zuko's mottled blush.

He hadn't expected her to be so close so suddenly but he breathed deeply to calm his heart rate. He had no reason to be flustered about Suki concealing his scar. Why did he care anyway?

'There, that's perfect,' Suki said with satisfaction, dipping her fingers in again and comparing his skin tone with approval. 'Here, now come closer.'

She lifted herself to sit on her knees on the chair as Zuko dragged his closer to sit three feet away. Despite his efforts, Zuko's heart was hammering against his ribcage. The flickering fire in his hand pulsed slightly before he could collect his thoughts and calm his bending.

'Hold this,' she instructed, and he took the bowl in his other hand.

Then, she turned to face him, her eyes narrowed slightly with concentration. His skin burned at her touch as Suki ran her slender fingers through his hair, pushing his fringe up out of his face and holding it there. Zuko didn't know where to look. Her face was so close but he felt that if he looked into her eyes, she would see his entire thought-stream there and read the desires written in the pattern of his irises; if he looked at her lips, however, he might be drawn in. She turned his head slightly to the right to better see the whole of his scar; then, sympathy turned up her brow.

'You must have been in a horrible accident,' she said softly, dabbing her fingers into the makeup and beginning to wipe it underneath his eye.

He closed his eyes at her cool touch, feeling totally unfazed by the comment. He suddenly felt like he couldn't be concerned by anything at the moment.

'It wasn't an accident,' he corrected her quietly. 'My father did this to me.'

'_What?_ Your father?!' gasped Suki, and he felt her fingers pause on his temple.

'Yes,' he sighed. 'Before he banished me. It was supposed to teach me a lesson, but I told him at the invasion that it was cruel, and that it was wrong. I still can't believe I spent all those years trying to regain my honour and my father's love when, really, it wasn't worth it at all. Once Azula took down Aang at Ba Sing Se, my father welcomed me home like a hero – as his _son_, for the first time in three years. I should have been happy, but I wasn't. It wasn't right and I wasn't me. I realised that all this time, my uncle was a better man and more like a father to me than my real father ever was. That was when I decided to leave the Fire Nation and join Aang and the others.'

'You did a noble thing,' said Suki softly, continuing to dab at his cheek. 'An _honourable_ thing.'

The corners of Zuko's mouth twitched at her words.

'Do I detect a smile?' she asked in surprise, unable to fight a grin herself.

Zuko opened his eyes to look at her smiling face. Suki's eyes were dancing in the light of his fire.

'I'm just glad,' he reiterated. 'Things could have turned out a lot worse, but you're right. Honour wasn't something my father could give and take from me at will; honour was something I had to claim for myself through my actions. And I believe that in helping the Avatar restore balance to the world, I can do just that.'

'By sacrificing your own needs and desires to help Aang, I think you already have,' said Suki warmly. 'There,' she said, running her finger over his brow with a flourish. 'That's done, now let me see.'

She let his hair fall back over his face, ruffling it slightly to let the strands hang in their natural place, and leaned back to look at him in full. She smirked.

'It's so strange to see you without a scar,' she said in mild surprise. 'Put out your fire and look at your reflection in the window.'

Zuko did so and received a shock to see an unfamiliar face looking back at him from the black glass. He leaned forward to detect a fault but it seemed extremely convincing.

'Wow, Suki!' he remarked, shifting his face this way and that to see his eye from every angle. 'You can hardly tell at all!' And his expression shifted to one of humble gratitude as he faced her. 'Thank you,' he said, and bowed low.


	5. Chapter 4

Suki breathed the musty smell of the scarf wrapped around her face as she slipped down the dark alleyway. _Quick and stealthy_, that was their agenda. They had to get in, get the information, and get out; and Suki felt more determined than she had ever been in her life. She was going to find out what happened and she wasn't going to get captured in the process. It was as though all the pain, anguish, grief and indecision of the past five years were being amended in this very moment. This was her time to redeem herself and prove that she could face her fears. This was her time to do what was right.

She halted at the corner, her body pressed against the cool stone wall, before peering around the side of the building to observe an empty street. She flashed a nod to Zuko and darted around the corner, the pair of them whispering through the shadows lighter than dead leaves in an autumn updraft.

Her eyes flicked from post to post, waiting for the familiar characters… _there_. Suki stopped and so did Zuko. They looked at the sign that read _Huo Meng, Southern Advisor_, and then to each other. Zuko's eyes, shimmering palely in the moonlight, questioned her resolution; Suki's gaze hardened to a sharp and decisive affirmation before she leapt lithely to spring off the fence post and grab hold of the eaves over the doorway. Zuko watched her swing her legs once to flip around and land silently atop the terracotta tiles. She gestured for him to follow and turned away, not waiting for him to catch up. They both skirted over the rooftop towards the back of the house where the bedroom was most likely to be. Zuko had mentioned earlier in the airship that most bureaucrat residences were built like this: with private rooms at the back and dining or sitting areas by the front door for easy access should they be called upon by officials. In this case, their mission at the back of the house provided easy access for a quick escape: an alleyway ran right behind the back gate, out of sight of the palace sentinel towers.

Suki crouched down and swung herself over the roof's edge to land on the banister of the back porch. Her head snapped up to take in the black, empty windows, the sliding back door, the windchime that tinkled ominously in a gentle breeze.

'Suki,' Zuko breathed, almost too quiet to hear. 'I know you need this. I know you need closure.' She looked over at where he stood, his hand on the banister and his eyes shrouded in darkness. 'I just want you to be prepared for the worst.'

'I have considered every possibility,' she replied in the lowest whisper. 'Believe me, I know what I'm doing.'

And she stepped forward to slide open the paper door. As soon as they entered the house, a pressing silence surrounded their movements and every footstep was taken with extra care; but this was it, there was no turning back now. The dim light from the moon revealed a humble laundry space to the left and an open doorway to the right – there was no light coming from the doorway at all. Suki's face was blazing with her purpose.

She strode forward with a resolute gait despite her silence, through the doorway and right around the side of the low double bed. Zuko clamped his hand over the sleeping woman's mouth, who woke immediately and began to struggle and shriek mutely. Suki's dagger flashed to the throat of the man at her side as she grabbed him by the neck of his nightshirt and brought him up to her face.

'Huo Meng,' she breathed fiercely. 'I have a few questions for you.'

Suki's eyes met Zuko's in the dark and he immediately conjured a ball of fire which threw the scene into sharp resolution. The lines of Huo Meng's face aged him where he lay looking up into Suki's terrible rage, his whole being shaking with fear and confusion. The sight of his all-too-familiar visage shot painful memories through Suki's mind.

'Do you remember me?' she asked furiously. 'Do you remember my face?

'Answer her!' commanded Zuko, shaking the woman threateningly.

Huo Meng's eyes flashed to his wife in Zuko's hold and the fire raised in his other hand, and that seemed to steel his resolve. He looked back painfully at Suki.

'Yes,' he croaked. 'I remember you. From Kyoshi Island all those years ago.'

'Well then, you have some information that is of great importance to me,' she hissed, pressing the silver dagger into the side of his throat. 'Tell me: where is my brother?'

'I – I don't know!' Huo Meng said shakily.

'Wrong answer.' She pressed the dagger down harder.

Suki's whole being burned with hate towards the man at her mercy. She longed to slice the knife across his throat to show him how much pain he caused to others; but she would not allow him the luxury of a quick demise. His actions had tortured her, just as they had tortured her mother and father and countless others whose children he had taken.

Huo Meng whimpered in fear, clutching at her arm before looking wildly up again.

'No, please!' he begged. 'Please, I don't know where he is now! But I can give you information that may help you to find him!'

'I'm listening,' she said, narrowing her eyes and easing her hold an inch.

'He was sent with a group of new recruits to train in the Fire Nation – that was my instruction as General, I – I had to find firebenders – _agh!_' He choked as Suki's grip tightened in her increasing rage. 'Commander Yuan!' he wheezed desperately. 'Commander Yuan is who you want, he trained all the new recruits – please!'

'Where _is_ Commander Yuan?' Zuko growled menacingly.

'Still in his old job –'

'_Where?_'

'They have a fortress on the mainland – just near Ember Island!' he groaned hurriedly, his panicked eyes flicking from Suki to Zuko and to his wife in Zuko's grip. 'Please, I don't know what happened to him after he was sent there – I have no more information! Please, leave us be!'

'Leave you be?' Suki repeated, her tone quiet and yet shaking with fury. 'Leave you _be_? Why should I? You didn't leave _us_ be when you came to Kyoshi Island! You didn't leave my _brother_ be – you took him away, a _nine-year-old boy_ to fight in a war we weren't even a part of! You tore my family apart.' Her gaze moved to rest upon the red-faced woman struggling in Zuko's hold. 'Why shouldn't I tear _your_ family apart?'

'N-no, please!' Huo Meng cried, gripping Suki's arm. 'Please, I beg you! I know I did a terrible thing, I was under orders –'

'Then you should have defied them and done what was right!' she roared, looking back at him with eyes full of hate. But her piercing stare faltered. 'Just like I'm going to now.' She sighed and released him, pushing him back into his pillows and letting her dagger hang in her hand by her side. 'Revenge isn't justice,' she said. 'I'm proving that I am a better person than you, Huo Meng, and I am doing what is right. I'm letting you and your family live, despite whether I think you deserve it or not.' Then she raised her knife to point it directly at his face before saying, slowly and clearly, 'We were never here.'

Zuko's flame was snuffed and the room was immediately plunged into total darkness. The woman fell forward onto the bed into her husband's arms, shaking with fearful sobs, and when Huo Meng looked up from his wife's face, the room was empty and as quiet as before.


	6. Chapter 5

The glittering lights of the capital behind them were gradually being dimmed by the vast light growing in the east. The sky had shifted from inky black to indigo and even the stars were suffering the sun's oncoming radiance. It was extremely quiet; the earth was breathing a collective sigh before dawn broke, revelling in its last moments of blissful, somnambulate stagnancy. A chill breeze was the only sound that mulled the silence. It rippled in waves through the dewy grass and sent tendrils of hair to tickle Suki's face.

Only once they had overcome the rim of the Caldera, slipped past wall guards and numerous sentinels, had they stopped running. A stitch still throbbed in Suki's side but not a sign of discomfort showed on her face. Both she and Zuko had been up all night and neither allowed the evidence to hamper their steady gait. Not a word had been exchanged between them since they left Huo Meng's house; both had been meditating on the information – or at least Suki had. Zuko had been preoccupied by a feeling of terrible anxiety and regret being in the capital of his homeland, and being in the place of his former betrayal; only now that they were in the open fields was he able to clear his head and feel the presence of the girl beside him. He felt like he should say something or promote some form of conversation, but he wasn't sure where to start. She was obviously going through a difficult time and he wanted to be there to comfort her – but what if he said something wrong and made her upset? Or what if he made an idiot of himself?

'Thank you, Zuko,' she said suddenly, sparing him from having to make small talk.

Suki looked over to smile at him. Her eyes were sad but the smile was true and Zuko inclined his head.

'I'm just glad you got a promising lead,' he said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. He never really knew how to take gratitude. 'You did a noble thing, sparing Huo Meng and his wife. If I were in your position, I can't say I could have been strong enough to do the same.'

'Do you think I did the right thing?' she asked. 'Should I have killed him? I mean, he's probably going to tell your father that a firebender and a girl from Kyoshi Island entered his house and accosted him… Do you think he would know it was you?'

'It doesn't matter if he does,' Zuko shrugged. 'My father already knows I'm a traitor. And as to whether I think you did the right thing – everything on this mission is your call. My opinion doesn't matter so don't worry about me.'

'I worry about you whether you tell me not to or not,' she said, even allowing herself a little laugh. But then her voice became softer as she ventured, 'I guess that's what happens when you care about someone.'

Zuko's eyes widened in the dark as an awkward silence ballooned between them at her words. Suki bit her lip, wondering if she should regret what she had said, and hugged her waist as she walked.

'I – er – thanks for worrying about me,' Zuko spluttered, grinning stupidly in an attempt to be nonchalantly polite. 'I mean, thanks for caring, even though you shouldn't worry because, well, I'll be fine anyway and – um – this mission is really all about you so – yeah.' He trailed off lamely, the desire to run away or perhaps throw himself off a cliff slowly possessing his entire being. But Suki laughed again at his efforts.

'You're welcome,' she grinned.

Zuko suppressed a groan, resolving instead to internally kicking himself. _Very smooth, you moron._

It was getting properly light now. Ground-nesting birds were singing a welcome-song to the sun and the temperature seemed to rise a degree with every minute that passed.

'It's a beautiful place,' Suki noted, taking in the vast grassy fields and hillocks that stretched in every direction around them.

The Caldera was the largest mound jutting out of the earth behind them, but other than that only distant volcanoes could be seen coloured blue by the horizon.

'Yes, it is beautiful,' Zuko agreed solemnly. 'As children, we were never allowed out here beyond the Caldera rim. It was frowned upon, being royalty, which I hated as a kid because I could see these lands from my bedroom window and their emptiness seemed like such a nice change from the palace city. It was strange being accepted as a prince again, and being carted around in a palanquin everywhere.' He laughed dryly. 'It got old quickly.'

'I can't imagine a life like that,' said Suki, shaking her head in disbelief. 'I grew up in a two-room house, helping my mum run her market stall and training to defend the village against rogue travellers. What's it like having people _waiting_ on you?'

'It had its perks but believe me, it gets irritating,' Zuko said bitterly. 'Most of the time when I was there I just wanted to be alone; but the servants _never_ leave you alone. They even insisted that I take the palanquin to Mai's house, and she lived just across the road.'

At the mention of his ex-girlfriend, Zuko's cheek's flushed a dull pink and Suki, too, felt a slight embarrassment at the unwelcome reminder.

'Oh, I'm sorry, _your majesty_,' she said emphatically, darting in front of him to walk backwards and bow low to him. 'Are you royal feet getting sore? I haven't got a palanquin but you can climb on my back if you want?'

'Ha ha.' He narrowed his eyes at her sarcasm but she only flashed him a grin.

'Hey look, the river's there!' she said suddenly, pointing to the right where the inlet from the sea carved a deep trench that wound around into the middle of the land from the capital. Their warship had been docked at its mouth, but they still had a half hour's walk yet.

As they looked over, the first rays of sunlight peaked over the horizon and the fields suddenly glittered as golden beams streamed through the thousands of dew droplets that clung to the blades of grass. Suki's face lit up at the sight and she clasped her hands at her breast.

'It's so beautiful,' she breathed. 'You know, after being in prison for so long, I've really come to appreciate these little things.'

Zuko couldn't help but smile slightly at her simple pleasure.

'If only more people were like you,' he told her quietly, 'things would probably be a lot better in the world.'

Her eyes shone at his words and Zuko became immediately flustered at their unintended impact. He set his face and kept walking.

'So what will we do when we get back to the airship?' he asked, more to have something to break the silence than out of real interest.

'Well, do you want to come with me to this fortress Huo Meng mentioned?' Suki asked, and she was hesitant, afraid that he would say no.

'It will be dangerous, and we'll have to be extremely careful,' he said thoughtfully, but Suki's heart leapt into her mouth at his use of inclusive language; it was as though him coming had never even been disputable. 'I know of the fortress but I've never been there before. My family and I used to go on holidays to Ember Island when I was a kid and we would always sail past its outer walls.'

'There's something really twisted about that.' Suki grimaced. 'The Fire Nation royal family going holidaying on a resort island, on their way sailing past a military fortress that's training kidnapped firebender kids inside to fight in the war…'

'My family are those kinds of people, believe me,' said Zuko, his expression even darker than hers. 'There's a reason I left.'

'I wasn't disputing it,' she said, holding up her hands in defence, 'just stating a fact.'

'But I guess the agenda's pretty much the same thing,' he surmised. 'Quick and stealthy.'

'Always quick and stealthy…'

Suki was in a strangely good mood considering the extent of her rage and pain only a few hours ago. But now that they had a plan and had a lead, she felt like she was finally being active in doing what was right; not to mention the openness of the landscape put her in high spirits, especially after being imprisoned for so long.

The cockpit of the airship already felt strangely homely and welcoming. Despite its cold metal interior and the Fire Nation insignia emblazoned across the wall, Suki breathed a sigh of relief upon entering the little area.

'We should sleep,' Zuko suggested, rubbing his eyes as he sat down in his chair by the dashboard.

'You sleep,' amended Suki. 'I'll fly us out of here. It's not a good idea to stay so close to the capital after last night. Which way is it to Ember Island?'

'It's not too far.' Zuko opened Suki's rucksack to take out the sleeping mat. 'Set the ship due west and we'll get to the coast eventually. If you land the ship underneath the cliffs, we should be hidden well enough.'

She nodded and started up the engine. As Zuko lay down, feeling an almost painfully pleasurable tingling as his spine stretched out, he watched Suki's progress over the levers and pulleys on the expansive dashboard. She learned fast and was one of the bravest, most capable warriors he knew; he didn't know why it surprised him. He recalled her pain of a few hours ago, her immeasurable rage and hatred for the man at her mercy, and how she still spared him and his wife despite how much he had hurt her – how she chose justice over revenge. Not only was she strong and passionate, she was measured and true. _What a woman_, he thought amiably. _Wait_. Zuko shook his head and pressed his eyes shut, forcing the thoughts from his mind. He shouldn't be thinking about Suki in that way.

The airship rose into the air and juddered up over the river and the low cliffs on the other side.

'Do you think they'll come after us?' Suki asked quietly, and by "they" Zuko knew she meant imperial troops.

'It doesn't matter if they do,' he sighed, rolling onto his side and pushing his hair out of his face. 'You and I – I reckon we could take them.'

'We could definitely take them,' she agreed with a smirk.


	7. Chapter 6

_Mmmm that warmth is really nice. Am I dreaming? I don't really care either way, this is nice just lying here. So sleepy… warm… comfy… soft mattress, breathing bed – wait, breathing bed?_

Suki blinked. Sunlight was streaming in through the front windows, washing her skin with its warm glow; but that wasn't the only source of heat. Somehow, as they were sleeping, Suki had ended up in Zuko's embrace. Her cheeks blazed as she realised her eyelashes were fluttering against his chest; his arm was draped easily over her waist, his chin atop her head, and judging by his slow, steady breathing he was still sleeping. _Oh my – oh whoa okay, okay Suki, calm down, just breathe, take it easy_.

Her heart was hammering in her chest: an abrupt wake-up call. She pressed her hands against his chest as she slowly began to inch her body away from his, careful not to make any sudden movements. She stretched around behind her to take his wrist and ease it up over her waist and onto the floor where she had lain. Zuko's lips twitched with silent sleep-talk as he tucked his arms into his chest. Suki sat up and was about to stand when she decided to allow herself a moment of quiet indulgence. She let her eyes wander to his face, so peaceful in its oblivion, his scarred eye revealed again after the night's escapades had wiped the makeup away. She was so torn; he was a beautiful human being, especially now in this state of innocent vulnerability. It was oddly relieving to know that despite all they had been through: the prison breaks, the fighting, the danger, the risk, the fear, he was still able to let himself go and be simple in slumber like everyone else. Right now, Zuko was nothing special, he was just a teenager like her – but, somehow, that _did_ make him special. And where she sat, Suki was seized by the desire to lie back down and bury her face into his chest and pretend like she had never woken up. In her life at that very moment, Zuko's presence was the source of her comfort.

But no. She got up and padded across the floor, feeling the cool metal spiral up from the soles of her bare feet, and peered out of the window. Judging by the position of the sun, she guessed it to be around three o'clock in the afternoon. Perfect. That was a decent sleep they had had in preparation for the night ahead of them.

Suki smoothed her expression before going back over to where Zuko lay. She put her hand on his shoulder to shake him lightly.

'Zuko,' she murmured. 'You have to wake up.'

His eyes opened immediately, startling her, but his face was soft with the vestiges of a warm and comfortable snooze.

'What time is it?' he asked blearily, sitting up to rub his eyes.

'Around three in the afternoon,' she replied, keeping her tone carefully casual, going over to her rucksack and opening it to rummage inside. 'Are you hungry?'

He nodded. 'How long have you been awake?'

'Five minutes,' she shrugged.

Zuko stood up but paused, his eyes lingering on the closeness of their sleeping mats, before striding over to look out of the window.

'Nice location,' he commented, clearly impressed by her park job.

They ate outside on the sand, Zuko heating the rice bowls with his bending while Suki dressed down out of her black stealth gear. His eyes were pointedly averted as she pulled her long-sleeved shirt over her head.

'Here.' He handed the rice bowl to her, which she took in her shirt to dull the heat of the porcelain.

She crossed her legs and sat down on the sand, looking out at the bright blue ocean pensively as she ate.

'Can you tell me something?' she asked, after a few minutes of silence.

'What?' Zuko replied cautiously.

He had preferred to remain clad in his black clothing and so he sat there looking like a dark cloud of teenage angst. In contrast to the sunny day and their location on the pristine beach, it was slightly comical.

'It's just something that's been on my mind: why did you come to me in the Palace Prison? Why didn't you tell your uncle what you were going to do? I mean, we hardly even knew each other…'

Zuko ate a few mouthfuls of rice before replying.

'My uncle wasn't talking to me,' he said, confessing a personal burden no longer in his usual tight voice but in a more relaxed demeanour. 'I had gone to visit him many times but he kept silent and – gave me the treatment I deserved after what happened in Ba Sing Se. I went to you because you were an ally of the Avatar and you were my only chance of finding him.'

'Except for the fact that it didn't go to plan,' Suki noted, picking through the rice for a piece of komodo chicken, 'because I got arrested. You found them on your own.'

'Yeah, but believe me, it would have been _a lot_ easier for everyone if you had have been there to defend me. We were all almost killed.'

'I heard about that,' she said quietly. 'Sokka told me you risked your life to save them all. That was very brave of you.'

'It had to be done, and it was my fault that he was there in the first place,' Zuko retorted thanklessly.

'Regardless,' she said firmly, and left it at that. 'But you said your uncle busted himself out of jail during the invasion. Are you going to go looking for him?'

'I don't know,' said Zuko, and he put his bowl down to hang his head in shame. 'I did a terrible thing, I made a terrible mistake. I'm afraid that if I go and find him, he'll hate and reject me – which he ought to do, considering everything I've done to him.'

'Your uncle doesn't hate you –'

'You don't know that,' he said angrily.

'I've heard a lot about him from Toph and Aang. Of course I'm not really one to judge but I believe that he would be proud that you found this path on your own terms, without outside help or encouragement. He would see that you underwent a great struggle when you returned to the Fire Nation and you saw the error of your ways and risked your life and freedom to come and find Aang, let alone what you risked helping me. I don't think you realise how much you've done to help us,' she said, with a small smile. 'Your uncle won't reject you; he loves you.'

'But I betrayed him!' cried Zuko painfully. 'I saw him locked away in prison because of me, when all he ever did was try to help me! In Ba Sing Se, he was the one who did the right thing in protecting the Avatar – protecting him from me.'

'You can't keep suffering because of mistakes you've made in the past,' said Suki gently, touching his shoulder. She could feel the muscles tensed, the sinews strung tight with the tension of his suffering, but at her touch he seemed to relax. His shoulders dropped slightly and his breathing eased. 'You said it yourself: people change. And your uncle seems like a very wise man; I'm sure he would understand that and not hold you against the mistakes you've made – mistakes that you've made up for since.'

'I wish I knew you were right,' he muttered. 'But I can't ever know for sure.'

'Don't do what I did and avoid the situation altogether out of a selfish fear!' Suki commanded, suddenly flaring up herself. 'It's better to confront the situation and find out the truth rather than hiding away and trying to persuade yourself that not knowing at all is better. It only makes it worse!'

She spoke the words quickly; they lashed out at him and as soon as she had finished speaking, Suki turned away to hide the hurt that she knew was written all over her face.

'I'm sorry!' said Zuko, aghast, horrified by his tactlessness. He raised his hand to touch her arm but thought better of it and dropped his hand to his lap again. 'I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking.'

'I just want to get this over with!' she said thickly, obviously referring to their mission of the night. 'We get into the fortress, find Commander Yuan – but, I don't know if I can just let that man go.' Suki turned back to look at Zuko beseechingly, trying to find some simple answer buried in his eyes. 'Commander Yuan is worse than Huo Meng. Yuan has been in his job for over five years, which proves that he just loves imprisoning and training up young kids to be killing machines. This man is evil. I feel that, if we go in there and find him and get him alone, it's our moral duty to – to –'

'To what?' asked Zuko sharply.

'To make sure he can't hurt anyone else again,' she finished, with a deep sigh. 'It would be wrong just to let him continue with his job; I mean, if, by some chance Jai is still there, we can't just take him and leave the others. Those boys are other people's brothers and sons too.'

'Suki, you don't have to save an entire fortress of kids,' said Zuko firmly. 'You don't have to save everyone who needs saving – that's the Avatar's job.'

'Would you be able to turn your back on those children?' she asked lowly. 'Would you be able to look at them all, probably in rags and not having seen their families for however long. Would you be able to go in and then just leave them there?'

Zuko averted his eyes, unsure as to what he should say.

'I'm sorry,' Suki sighed, shaking her head. 'I'm just – it's a daunting task.'

'We have a specific mission, and a dangerous one. If you want to rescue some kids then fine, but if you can't then _don't beat yourself up about it_. Sozin's Comet is coming soon and Aang will face my father, and he will defeat him and those kids will be freed. If _you_ don't save them now, then Aang will save them soon. Don't worry.'

He emphasised the last two words so firmly that Suki leapt furiously to her feet, glaring daggers at him. She wanted to shout at him, that he didn't understand and that _waiting for Aang to save the world_ wasn't going to make her feel any better about doing nothing; but she couldn't find the words and couldn't be bothered wasting her energy on this stupid pompous Fire Nation prince who had obviously been raised not to care about anyone.

His expression shifted to one of shock as she stormed away down the beach, around the warship and out of sight.

'What did I say?' he moaned in exasperation to himself, falling back onto the sand with a tremulous groan.

* * *

Zuko looked over his shoulder as he heard a whisper of footsteps. Suki stood in the doorway, her hair sopping wet and her posture one of total dejection. Her clothes clung to her figure as she dripped quietly onto the metal floor. He stood up immediately but hesitated, unsure if he should approach her; he couldn't tell whether those were tears or water droplets on her face.

'I'm sorry, Zuko,' she said quietly. 'I didn't mean to get so angry before, I just –'

He hurriedly stooped down to pick up his quilt as he strode towards her.

He ignored reservation and threw the quilt around her bare shoulders. Her skin smelled of sea salt and moonflowers. As soon as the quilt was over her, Zuko couldn't handle the closeness any longer and he turned away to sit back rigidly in his chair.

'I brought your clothes,' he said quickly, gesturing to the pile of black garments laid by her rucksack. 'And – uh – cleaned the bowls and everything.'

'Thanks,' she smiled, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

She rubbed the quilt over her arms and up her neck, but she paused and looked up pointedly.

'Would you mind turning around while I change?' she asked, slightly awkwardly.

'Oh – no, of course not,' said Zuko, blushing furiously as he turned back to face the ferocity of the setting sun.

An electric tension befuddled his brain as Zuko became all-too-aware of her probably naked figure behind him. He could hear the ruffling of her clothes as she dressed, the sound of the quilt moving over her body, and her soft sighs as she peeled the wet garments from her skin. He shivered.

'Okay, it's safe now,' she said lightly, and he turned back to see her wrapping the strap of her shoe up her calf. 'Shall we leave soon? The sun's setting.'

'Yeah.' He looked back to the window, the sunlight illuminating the flecks of gold in his amber eyes. 'Yeah, we have a walk ahead of us.'


End file.
